The Greek Orthodox Church conducts the blessing of the waters for the High Feast Day of Theophania. With the blessings of His Eminence +Demetrius the Metropolitan of America, this year's ritual took place at Battery Park in NYC with the participation of the clergy and laity of the Cathedral of St. Markella in Astoria, NY. Five men swam into the Hudson River to retrieve the Holy Cross that was tossed in by Bishop Christodoulos of Theoupolis, and the man who retrieved it presented it to Bishop Pavlos, the retired Metropolitan of America.

Iftar, refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is done right after sunset.

We report the following unchanged as it was published:

"The leaders of the Armenian, Roman, Jewish and Syrian communities of Turkey sat around the fasting Iftar dinner in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul."Read more...

Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Tucson, AZ, is a beautiful mission parish near downtown Tucson, a city in southern Arizona. It was started in 1997 by Father John Bockman, who was a missionary priest formerly serving missions in Tennessee and Massachusetts since 1990.
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Q. I noticed that we call the angels Michael and Gabriel "Saint." I thought the title "Saint" was only given to humans who have proven themselves Godly. Do you mind clarifying this for me? Is there a deeper meaning to "Saint" that I am not aware of?